This was SO GOOD. I finished in one sitting because I just could not put the book down. The story-line, the characters, the twists!! I don't usually turn to romance when I want something unexpected, so this definitely surprised me in the best way possible. Highly recommend!

I'M SO SAD THIS BOOK DIDN'T WORK FOR MEEEE. The Make-Up Test is a second chance romance taking place in a school with a competition vibe, you think I would love it!! However it fell flat, I do think this could be a win for new readers of the romance genre.

The Make Up Test fell short for me. While I love a good romance, I hate when smart women do stupid things. There were too many times when Allison didn’t stop to listen or chose not to discuss hard topics with both her friends and Colin. Someone getting a PhD in literature should have more chutzpah. Most of the literary references were way over my head (and I expected that going into the book) but I did enjoy getting a taste of what a person goes through to become a literature professor. I also appreciated every reference to a cat or dog.

This book was so frustrating.

Our girl Allison has worked super hard all on her own for her whole life to get to this prestigious program in grad school, when she ends up being paired with her crappy ex boyfriend, Colin, as a teacher's assistant. Through memories and flashbacks we find that he definitely was a crappy ex. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like he's changed all that much?? Except for the fact that suddenly he's changed his entire life plan to exactly the same plan as hers. He attributes this to her passion for medieval literature making him realize how amazing it is, but truly it just feels like he changed his whole life just to mess with her some more.

As time goes on she just continues to be treated badly by everyone, including cardigan wearing Colin. (Apparently it's all he wears even immediately after sex??? Walking around totally sweaty and naked with a lil cardi around his shoulders? Gross).

At no point did I ever root for these two to get back together, especially after it became clear he wasn't really going to change all that much, and mainly the only change was going to be her acceptance of his bad treatment. The third act breakup/reunion based on lack of communication is a trope I truly abhor and this one was especially frustrating.

The only redeemable quality of this book was the fat main character who isn't actively trying not to be fat or change who she is. Unfortunately, that's not just not enough for me.

This is a charming book that reminds us that sometimes it's worth giving people another chance. The characters are all relatable in their imperfections. Although at its heart it's a basic enemies to lovers story, the gist of the plot is completely unique and original.

Allison Avery loves to win almost as much as she loves medieval literature. When her ex-boyfriend, Colin Benjamin, is also assigned to her dream mentor in their PhD program she is no longer the most competitive person in her program. And with the professor choosing between them for a career making research trip, she is determined to win. But what starts as a battle of wits, quickly brings up old feelings and as they work together, she begins to rethink their rivalry. I expected to love this book (I love academic rivals-to-lovers), but it kind of fell flat for me. It really relied on the miscommunication trope, with every relationship ending argument ending in a simple and easily communicated misunderstanding. I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope so I became really annoyed with the characters. But I did love the plus-size representation and how the main character handled the judgment of people around her.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Griffin, and Jenny L. Howe for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. It was a fun read!

A fun read! The writing style was good and it was easy to connect with the characters. Definitely recommend!

Allison Avery and Colin Benjamin dated when they were in college at Brown, but that didn't work out for them. When Allison finds out the Colin is in her Ph. D. program at Claymore, she is shocked. She feels that he is trying to come in and steal her dreams when he decides to focus on the same topic that he was never interested in before. Allison and Colin are both assigned to TA for the same professor studying medieval literature and are thrown together more than they want to be. Allison has not told her best friend/roommate that knew Colin before that he is in her program or that they have had to start spending time together. Their professors lets them know that she is only going to take one of them on the research opportunity of a lifetime and mentor them and it turns into a competition when they had just decided to have a truce.

Allison has a family emergency and Colin offers to help and then rekindle their relationship for a little bit, but Allison has to figure out if the trust has been broken when Colin uses her ideas for his presentation. Will she be able to trust him again?

Gave me Beach Read vibes with two people competing but still into each other.

Things I loved:
• Plus size rep
• I love how Allison learned to stand up for herself set bounderies.
• Academic world setting. I thought it was interesting and offered great insight!

Having said all that, I can't say this book was my favorite. I didn't care for the MCs too much, and I feel like they even brought out the worst in each other at times. 😣

If you like books set in Academia with exes turned rivals turned lovers, then this might be for you!

CW: fat shaming, parental abuse, death of a parent

If you love the academia trope then I definitely recommend this one. I just could not get into this one. I didn’t like either of the MCs and what they were studying I found really boring. I loved the 2nd chance romance though and liked the ending.

There was so much to love about this book. The plus-size rep! The love for literature and the academic setting. Calling out toxic parents and learning to set boundaries. The fact that is was a second chance romance.

But, I think because I had just read Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan and it was so mature this really irked my nerves. Because it also falls into the enemies to lovers and miscommunication tropes which I really dislike. However, those are my personal opinions so I think lots of people will still adore this book. Because there is a lot to love about it. Also, though you are supposed to feel bad for a mediocre white man for being a mediocre white man? And for once in the history of the world, not getting his way? Umm no.

I will definitely be reading more by this author because this had great bones but the male character in this one just didn't do it for me. And miscommunication/poor communication is something I don't like to move the story along.

Thanks for Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Do you know when people say they'll charge Colleen Hoover for a therapy bill? Well, I want to bill Jenny L. Howe for my therapy bill over this book. ;)

*POTENTIAL SPOILERS*****

TW: Parental loss, parental abuse, fat-shaming

I truly cannot remember the last time I read a book that had me so divided like this book did. The whole entire time I was rooting for Colin, but then hated Colin, and loved Allison, but didn't like Allison and wanted them together, but broken up, etc. It was a R I D E I tell ya.

I did find Allison's character quite immature at parts with how she handled things, but as a child of an abusive parent (similar to Allison), I can justify some of the immaturity parts of the book. Allison is a trooper of a character who is just trying to find the best of herself while making a toxic parent proud.

I applaud Jenny's writing when it came to how Allison handled the fatphobic comments and jabs made towards her throughout her life and throughout this book. I truly think growing up (for me) I only ever read books with the "perfect" couples and "perfect" women, so it's really refreshing to read about a MC who is more relatable. Even if not relatable to some readers, her body confidence and self-worth is astronomical and perfect for women (young and old) to read.

Colin was a relatively-easy character to like but I hated that he made so many choices on behalf of Allison and their relationship. I feel that had he just communicated better a lot of the issues in the book could have been avoided. But then again, throughout the book, you're reading about Colin's antics and the tricks he pulled to one-up Allison (through Allison's POV) but towards the end of the book, you start to sympathize with his character with his own personal struggles. It was a lot of back and forth between hating and loving his character but I wanted to finish the book to see how it weathered!

I didn't really care for the ending, as I felt it was just rushed - all just to find out Colin thinks he defaulted to a certain field to make his grandpa and Allison happy/proud.

It was a riiiiide.

Overall, I wouldn't mind owning this book. My biggest struggle with it was the academia aspect of it but I'm not familiar with academia so that's my own fault! It's great to have authors like Jenny and even Hazelwood who put their targets on this to help better educate readers.

** I received this eARC from St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and Jenny l. Howe in exchange for an honest review. These honest thoughts are mine and mine alone.

This book about two exes-turned-rivals had so much that I loved about this book! I loved the “close proximity” trope of it, as well as the ex to rival to lovers. 🥰 I can’t wait to run to tell my friends when this comes out.

The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe is a delightful enemies-to-lovers story set in the academic world of medieval literature.

Allison Avery is starting her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, and she’s excited to start an in-depth dive into medieval literature. She’s worked her whole life to get into this program so she can become a Medieval Literature professor one day. Allison is driven and very goal oriented and she can’t believe her luck when she gets her favorite professor as a mentor.

Allison’s luck runs out when she finds out that her ex-boyfriend was also accepted to the program and later they find out they both will be competing for a career-defining research trip to Wales. Colin is just as competitive as Allison is, and their competition heats up. But will their competition and working together dig up old wounds, or old feelings?

I thoroughly enjoyed this enemies to lovers story. Allison and Colin are exactly the kind of dorky grad students you’d expect to find studying medieval literature. I really enjoyed their banter even when they were fighting. Allison is a very confident plus-sized person, but she grew up with a horrible father who constantly belittled her size and her academic achievements. Colin has some family issues as well and he has something to prove and that’s what is motivating him.

The book bogged down just a bit in the middle, there was a lot of academic medieval literature discussion that went over my head. I think anyone who enjoys that genre will really enjoy those parts. It was just a bit too much for me.

I did enjoy the academic setting and the second chance romance. You could tell these two were meant to be early on. Their banter and the way they took care of each other were adorable.

I highly recommend The Make-Up Test to anyone who enjoys romance. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a slow read for me. Not a terrible book my any means just not my personal favorite. I did like the story line and how Allison and Colin grew apart and together. I loved the storyline of Allison and her father Jed as I feel so many authors are afraid to assess a parent who doesn’t take interest in their child’s life and rather tries to tear the down at every chance they get. I also loved Monty and Cleo. They brought so many laughs to the story. Although this one did take a little bit for me to get into, I’m pleased with the outcome and did enjoy it.

I really enjoyed the concept of this debut, and I appreciated the inclusion of a plus sized character. That being said, there were times that I felt like her size was the biggest part of her, because it was a part of every single discussion, to the point that it was a little distracting. This would be a great book if there was a little finesse and revision around that, it's still really good even without any changes.

There is undeniable magic in Jenny Howe’s The Make-Up Test. Allison and Colin were the slow been second chance rivals to lovers romance I didn’t know I needed, and whose vulnerability and messiness made me cry because of how relatable they both felt.

We start The Make-Up Test with Allison Avery, a first-year English grad student at Claymore University whose passion is medieval literature. The school year is just beginning and she’s dismayed when her undergrad ex-boyfriend Colin Benjamin is in her cohort, but her desire to avoid him is squished when they’re assigned to co-TA British Literature’s Greatest Hits together for the genius Professor Wendy Frances. Allison and Colin battle each other every time the meet- to be the best TA, the best at trivia, etc.- before it becomes undeniable that their passion to one-up each other is just masking their love that never went away. They must decide if they’ve truly grown and moved on from the mistakes that led to their first break up while dealing with adult concerns- growing apart from your best friend, complicated family relationships, and knowing what you want out of life, to be exact.

What drew me to The Make-Up Test was its setting, as I love romances set against academia. Immediately I noticed that Jenny Howe did a great job of balancing her character’s lives outside of Claymore with their positions as graduate students. College is a tricky place to frame romance, as everything that goes into being a good academic requires complete devotion to your studies. Allison demonstrates this to a T, as she struggles with maintaining a relationship with her best friend who has left academia and her absent father, who has never validated her academic success. Colin does to a lesser extent but it is harder to see, as The Make-Up Test is a single person POV from Allison. However, through her interactions with Colin, we learn of his struggle to figure out his niche area of study, something Allison long ago figured out. Anyone who has attended college has struggled with one of these issues and will find the character’s portrayals deeply accurate and realistic.

Most of all, as I read, I couldn’t help but smile at the pure good vibes of The Make-Up Test. The main characters show how deeply flawed humans can still find connection and love each other, and perhaps more importantly, learn from the past. I’m eagerly stalking Jenny Howe’s social media in the hopes that she’ll announce spin off books about the side characters because Sophie and Mandy absolutely deserve more page time. Plus, I could never complain about future glimpses of Allison and Colin. 😏

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶/🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

**I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Second chance romance in an academic setting… promising premise but was a bit slow for me. The story itself was fine, but there was a bit too much focus on the main character being fat.

I'm going to say this is partially "it's not you, it's me", and also partially there were some things in this book that just were never going to work for me! I feel bad because the author seems so lovely, and maybe it's just not the right time for me to be reading this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want to read a second chance romance about two rival English TAs? Do you not mind romances that present unhealthy relationships as healthy ones? Do you like a smidge of family drama to accompany your romances? Do you like cringey quirky characters?

Pre-reading:
Just came off a brutal memoir and hoping for a little smooth brain reset.

Thick of it:
Cats out of romance novels please, god. Also, he's too #quirky. I'm out already.

Good reading voices are bookish pornography.

New England supremacy.

Cringe rom-com heroines have a red lipstick fetish as a rule.

Flying bugs are very scary.

Colin and I would not get along. Take the fucking cardigan off. Immediate ick.

Bestie that’s blowjobs not vomit.

I now want a croissant.

Okay, the croissant thing is cute.

So a virgo or a cap then lol.

Doesn’t listen-brings you a croissant daily from an offhand comment. Not adding up, missy.

All I want is someone to fight about books with.

God, men who think they know health are the worst.

Correct, Allison, fuck that. You don’t owe shitty people anything.

I’ve never understood the trope of bookish people being against the Internet. If you’re really bookish, you just love learning, and what better way to learn than through the Internet that just has everything preserved for eternity and accessible instantaneously?

Why am I into ponyboy Ethan? Gimme a sour, dour know it all to corrupt any day.

Why do some of us get self-conscious as we drink?

Ha, sportsball.

I weirdly like chocolate raisins.

That’s so rude to drink to the point of puking at someone else’s house.

Smidge author inserty.

We don’t have to insult other ladies to bring our friends up.

Ugh, I would do that romanticized finding meaning in everything shit.

Do not order for me.

If the author doesn't wax poetic about eyeballs every few paragraphs, is it even a romance novel?

I like raspberry cider.

I'm such a cap; trivia is sexy.

I also would’ve said pound sign. Learn something every day.

I love leather sofas. I’ve got such a thing for them.

“With his instrument” sounds pornographic.

I’m pretty sure that was supposed to be deep, but I just find it fundamentally untrue.

We’re getting woke and preachy, please stop.

Jesus christ, take me out of the hot man looming by using the word indolent. Is that me being toxic? I don’t care. Loom away, baby.

Allison, baby, you’re healthy about some things, and then for others, you have such a victim mentality. He’s not one-upping you. It’s called empathy, darling.

It’s his fucking laptop, you crazy

No, no magic. Is that supposed to be a buzz line? I don’t like it. It gave me the ick.

If I am saying shut up out loud to a book and not in the “shut up it’s so cute way,” but in the “shut up it’s so cheesy way,” we’ve got a problem

I’d like to see a romcom that doesn’t rely on their characters not communicating for the entire crux of the problem. Like, give me a romcom where they can communicate perfectly and they’re still fucked. I wanna read that.

This diner is my absolute fucking nightmare.

Buffalo chicken nachos at a Christmas theme diner somehow feels like blasphemy.

Here’s a wild concept: don’t date someone you want to cause bodily harm to. Go to therapy, bestie.

You don’t know that he drinks it, and also let the boy drink whatever he wants to drink, you fucking pretentious whore.

Again, just like communicate with your roommate. Also, don’t spend that much money on food for a party. That’s silly.

How do you fit that much beer in your stomach that fast? I would hurl.

I am not a fruit punch girl normally, but anytime somebody brings it up in a book I immediately crave it, and I don’t know what sort of conditioning has produced this.

A donut seems like horrible hangover food. All that sugar would make me nauseous.

I don’t really buy that a man rejected, from his point of view, for being an average white male, wouldn’t then turn to the extreme of hating minorities and women for taking and robbing him of the opportunity. Like I feel like the men who have something like that happen immediately go “well I just can’t get it because of the woke agenda.”

You know I’m at the midpoint of this book, and I do not think they should get back together. I think they are bad for each other.

What do you mean you forgot about his freckles? You were literally just telling us how you used eyeliner to connect them all.

The analogies in the book are whack.

Isn’t that a tractor beam, not a laser beam?

I don’t agree with that. So many people have to parent their parents.

Certain lines in this, with his name being Colin, will never not be funny to me, my friends, and my husband O’donoghue.

But you only get 7 tiles?

Can she please stop telling us how ugly this man would be to most people like she’s special or valuable for finding him attractive? Fuck off.

I cannot believe how many times this book brings up cardigans.

What do you mean why did he drive you home? Because he’s not a monster and your dad was dying like that’s why. What do you mean?

I don’t think second-chance romances are for me. They just piss me off.

I feel like this is a really, really, really bad time for them to get together. No one’s got a clear head.

My god, I hope they’re real careful about where they end this quote in the real book because on my e-book it ends with coitus and no interruptus, and that was a full body shock.

Not to be a germaphobe, but they’re just trusting that her childhood bedroom A, has sheets and B, is clean.

Cat boxers-immediately no. So firmly, and immediately no.

Would the cardigan fit tho? She goes on and on about how she’s so big and he’s so slim like…

You can like bad characters because they’re bad. Also please edit with a red pen if I ask you to edit. Don’t sugarcoat feedback. Don’t be fragile.

How is it keeping it a secret if Sophie never asked who her new classmates were or what was going on in her life? That’s on Sophie for not questioning it, not on her. This is dumb. This is a dumb fight. People don’t have to volunteer their entire lives to you. You can fucking ask and show interest even after you’ve known each other for years. It’s called putting in effort.

I also don’t understand what they see in each other. Like okay, they’re both smart and they’re physically attracted to each other, but they literally don’t like each other‘s personalities. Wild concept: don’t be with somebody who you’re constantly criticizing.

If you for a second think somebody is trying to sabotage your career or your professional life through your sex life with them, don’t be with them. This is so toxic. Why is this being presented like it’s something good and healthy and romantic and aspirational?

That’s not putting your feelings before winning, that’s just not being a fucking liar about the job you guys are sharing. You need all the information to correctly do your job. It’s not his fault that you’re a fucking cunt and a pathological liar.

Some bullshit ghost movie moment.

That latest “spicy “line should not get me, but like it kind of revs me up a bit. Like I’m such a fucking book nerd, I’d be like yeah, hot. Get after it.

I don’t think y’all are immediately dating after fucking once, ma’am. Prior history or no.

Sorry, it’s perfectly acceptable to not get into a fight or emo while you’re hosting a party

They’re both grad students. Who the fuck gives a shit if they’re fucking?

Shut up, I love the pumpkins at Roger Williams. We go every year.

Is he gonna wear Ned? Also not to be dark, but there’s no way grandpa makes it out of this book alive, right?

I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone compare elephants to dogs like that.

Why would he give a shit about you? You’re like a year older than him.

This is so fucking toxic. Like just don’t lie to each other? I don’t even understand. You’re lying about nothing. Like no one gives a shit.

This is such bullshit. You can’t keep parts of your lives secret from each other and expect to have a healthy relationship.

What is the with rom-coms and dancing? People can just not like dancing and they don’t have to be good at it. It’s fine.

That’s so rude. You share a house. You have a roommate. Do not fuck on the kitchen table that’s gross.

Oh, so like grandpa‘s dead so he doesn’t have to give his presentation, so then there’s no competition between them, and the book is an entire cop-out. Because if it’s this, I’m gonna be pissy. (It’s not this, but nearly.)

Okay, but you’ve been a girlfriend for like two weeks. You can’t possibly know everything about each other. That’s ridiculous.

Don’t break people's property? Why is this normalized as revenge against exes? Don’t fucking do that, be a human being.

I’d fuck Ethan, so I don’t know what that says about me.

I feel like cotton is too stiff to puddle. I feel like silk or satin puddles.

Allison is a bad person. I do not like her.

Woke signaling with cats is my 13th reason.

Self admits her teaching isn’t good, yet wants to be a teacher and thinks she’s earned something with it, fuck off.

This girl needs to go to therapy. She’s absolutely psychotic. Your professor did not come to your father‘s funeral to tell you that she picked your colleague to be her assistant over you, what the fuck.

Okay, somehow she’s not psychotic, and the professor did come to the funeral to give her this life-changing news. So inappropriate. Call HR now.

Again, if you’re willing to make assumptions that your partner is out to actively hurt you, don’t pick them as your partner.

He does wear Ned.

Post-reading:
Um, I hate this. Not hate, hate like I do some other books, but there’s nothing good here. It’s an unhealthy and toxic relationship presented as something to aspire to. I think Allison is actively a bad person and needs heaps of therapy. The book is very concerned with being woke and using buzzwords. That’s not representation. That’s not helpful. It’s virtue signaling, and it’s annoying. Nothing fun happens in this book. It just kind of exists. None of the characters feel like real humans except for Jed. I love books, but I’ve never taken a college-level English class, so all the references go over my head. Maybe if you were more familiar with medical literature it would do something for you, but I doubt it. Easter eggs of other people’s work cannot save a bad book. Also, the author claims to be body positive, but spends half the book body shaming the love interest for being skinny.

Who should read this:
People into cheesy second chance rom coms
Rom-com lovers who like medical literature

Do I want to reread this:
No

Similar books:
* Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee-cliche, best friends to lovers romance with books
* Book Lovers by Emily Henry-look if you want a bookish romance with family drama and you’re a cynic, this is the one you read
* Meet Me in The Margins by Melissa Ferguson-bookish workplace romance
* The Hating Game by Sally Thorne-bookish workplace romance